A new beginning
by GraeLeigh3
Summary: Sequel to my fic "1 bullet, 2 ADA" .... I strongly advise to read it first or this one might not make sense. C/O all the way! I love reviews! :D


This ficlet is a sequel to my fic "1 bullet, 2 ADA" which you should really read if you want this one to make sense.  
It's short, but I wanted to finish the storylien I started in the previous fic.

Don't hesitate to read and review! :)

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_The Novak Benson residence  
07 September – 02:42 pm_

It was a little after two thirty when Olivia Benson Novak went home.  
Her wife was nowhere in sight but the talkie by the kids indicated she was nearby.  
Cameron and Cassandra were both sleeping tightly in their cradles; she deposed a light kiss on their foreheads before retreating downstairs, searching for Casey.

She found her on the terrace overlooking the garden, nestled in the swing. She was dozing off and Olivia couldn't help but fall in love with her all over again.  
Clad in a worn out denim jean, with stains of paint and holes on it, she was wearing the red silk blouse she offered her for her birthday. Blood red, it emphasized both her redhead completion and her green eyes. One bare foot flat on the floor to rock the swing, the other was prompted on the armrest and she wondered briefly how her wife would react if she tickled it. It sure as hell was appealing.  
Shaking her head, she smiled, her wife had a short night, she shouldn't have that kind of thoughts.

Standing there a moment, observing her, she knew full well the red head was certainly aware of her presence the second she crossed the picture window.

- "You're going to stand there all afternoon, or grant your wife a proper homecoming kiss?", she teased, looking up at her with a playful grin, eyes sparkling.  
- "Don't know, you surely could use some sleep now", she confessed as she reached her side and bent to depose a loving kiss on full cherry lips.  
- "Hmm, not as appealing as snuggling up in my wife's arms", she purred.  
- "I totally agree", she responded as she slide behind her.

Casey rested her back fully against Olivia, whose arms came to loop tight around her waist. Smiling contently, she craned her neck until their lips met for a succession of tender kisses.

- "Looks like the little monsters feel better", she whispered after a moment, unwilling to disturb the calm enveloping them.  
- "Yeah, in fact they calmed down around 3 am. And they ate properly so I'm not worried. I tried to call to let you know but Brian said you were out of the office. Something came up?"  
- "Yeah, I got your text message. We took Gillian Merlez to her aunt's home. She was delighted."  
- "After what she's been through, it's comprehensible. Is she okay?"  
- "Yes, I gave her my number in case she had trouble adjusting to her new place."  
- "My Livy, always so caring", she whispered, wriggling to kiss her lovingly.

They fell back in companion silent until Olivia spoke up.

- "Remember Mr Parsons?"

Casey had to rack her brain but eventually she remembered: Mr Parsons lost his daughter a couple years ago, one of her first case. Although they had strong leads, it was all circumstantial and his daughter's killer and rapist was only convicted for manslaughter.

- "Patty's father. Fourteen years old girl, beaten up to death then raped by her boyfriend", she breathed. She still had a very hard time dealing with her failures.  
- "He called me this morning. Patty died three years ago. He is finalizing a project dear to his heart: a non-profit center to help abused and threatened children."  
- "Sounds like a great idea. How generous from him. That's certainly a site many people would come to"  
- "Yeah he wants children who are suffering abuse or are threatened to find a shelter when social services can't do anything for them. There will be people to help them in every way possible: welcome and listen to them, find them a home, provide medical cares, find proof to bring molesters to justice, prosecute said molesters."

She took a deep breath before going on:

- "The opening is planned for December 24th. He… he is offering us to join his lead team: I as head investigator, and you as head of the legal team."  
- "Us? He wants to hire her both?  
- "Yes, both of us. If we are interested of course"  
- "You didn't give him much choice you, did you?"  
- "Nope I wouldn't have. But as a matter of fact, I didn't need to, he wants us both in his team."  
- "You're kidding right? I failed at getting his daughter's rapist convicted."  
- "But he knows you did everything you could. So he wants us both. What do you think?"  
- "What do _you_ think?"  
- "Honest?"

Casey only nodded.

- "I think it would be a great opportunity for both of us, to do what's right. Without the usual hassle of working for the city"  
- "So you said yes?"  
- "No, I said I had to ask you first. That it will be our decision."  
- "You didn't tell him about us, did you?"  
- "Casey, of course I did. We are married; I refuse to let this part of my life aside. I won't let you, the kids or we come second. It's a take or leave thing"  
- "Risky", she objected.  
- "Let's see", she whispered.

Taking Casey's hands in hers, she turned those palms up, using them as pans of some imaginary pair of scales.

- "On one side, my beautiful wife who gave me not only one but two equally beautiful kids", she breathed, rising Casey's left arm to its maximum.  
"On the other side, a load of perverts", she joked, lowering there joined right hands until they rested on her wife's thights.  
"Total lack of competition", she joked.

Lowering Casey's arm, she kissed the inside of her wrist, lingering there, elicing a soft whimper from her.

- "Maybe but that didn't bother him a second. So if we are interested, the jobs are ours to take", she went on much seriously, a long moment later.

Casey Novak Benson fell silence for a moment, pondering what her wife just told her.  
Sure it was an interesting project and Olivia was very enthusiastic about it. Which was a good sign, she didn't remember the last time she had been wrong when following her instincts.  
But still it was a decision not to be taken lightly: that would mean resign without hope to be reintegrated. DA Arthur Branch had been nothing but supportive in her choices these past years, he deserved respect and consideration.  
And of course they had the babies to think about: their well being, their safety.

- "What about Cassandra and Cameron?"  
- "I knew they would be your main concern", Olivia smiled, nuzzling Casey's neck.  
- "Like they weren't yours", Casey joked, catching Olivia's lips in a kiss that took their breath away.  
- "There is a nursery downstairs, opening on a huge park with highly trained and professional staff, top class equipment. They'll have plenty of little mates to play with", she went on, a huge smile grazing her lips as she imagined the scene.  
- "Looks like you thought this over, on a long-term basis"  
- "Well it's certainly an interesting prospect", she admitted shyly. "But it's our decision love, if you prefer to keep your current job, I'll follow you", she whispered, planting a kiss below her  
earlobe.  
- "How gentle from you", she whispered, snuggling up further in Olivia's arms.  
- "When does he want a response?, she queried softly.

She was feeling sleepy and the swing's slow movement combined with Olivia's closeness wasn't really helping.

- "Whenever we have come to a decision"  
- "So he is not pushing us?"  
- "No, he gave me the address, we can go take a look if we wish to"  
- "Okay", she mouthed.

Olivia Benson Novak smiled down as her wife who just fell asleep in her arms.

In other circumstances, she would have been slightly hurt by such behaviour, but Cameron and Cassandra had both been sick last night. Usually, she was the one handling them at night but they kept screaming until Casey came to cuddle them.  
Guess at only 7 weeks old, they needed their biological mother just then. Today was Casey's day off so she complied.  
She, on the other hand, had the first shift in the morning at the squad, so she went back to bed with Casey's blessing. But she didn't sleep properly, the kids pretty vocals, and she missed her wife's body next to her. She kept tossing around until she eventually fell asleep, on Casey's side of their bed.  
Her partner, Lt Smithhook didn't miss the opportunity to tease her every time she yawned, but he took pity of her and send her home earlier.

Tomorrow was her day off so she'd have plenty of time to visit Mr Parsons' center.  
She didn't intend to do anything behind her wife's back but she wanted to make sure, before they both went to visit it, that it was a valuable project. Before any of them gave it too much thoughts and made a decision.  
Because if they were wrong, there would be no turning back.  
Therefore, as the one Mr Parsons contacted and as the most enthusiastic one, she had to make sure she wasn't making a huge mistake. She had her wife and kids to care for, that's what she vowed to do when she married Casey.  
Vows she took very seriously, just like everything that concerned her family.  
She wouldn't disappoint or hurt any of them.

Besides, there was an other reason why she was interested in that job. But she didn't tell Casey, unsure as how she would take it.

Since they came back to work, Casey got her job back as SVU's ADA but herself didn't wish to come back to SVU, so she took Lt Smithhook up on his offer to take her back in Computer Crimes. But that meant not working with Casey anymore. And although they were happily married, lived together, had two amazing kids, she missed working with her.*  
She trusted the ADA that worked for Computer Crimes but it wasn't just the same. She missed her wife, she missed having her next to her on a daily basis, evenings and nights weren't just enough. Maybe a result from the past year they spent side by side.  
And that project was exactly what she needed to have her close.  
It wasn't that she didn't trust Casey; maybe it was the cop in her that feared that something might happen to her, or the kids, when she wasn't around.  
She knew she couldn't protect them 24/7 but that didn't mean she couldn't try.

_The Novak Benson residence  
07 September – 03:31 pm_

Smiling, Olivia tightened her hold on Casey, careful not to wake her.  
Sighing contently, she let her mind wander; the past two years have been amazing.

She never thought she could get so lucky, that she would find in Casey her soul mate, the mother of her children, that she deserved to be happy. And she surely never thought she would find love in the arms of a woman, she always considered herself the heterosexual type.

Guess you never know but still, it had been a surprise to their cirlcle of friends and parents.  
They, Casey and herself, being the most surprised but they never backed off, and never regretted it.  
It was like everything fell into place when they admitted their feelings.  
She never believed in the whole love-for-life/soul-mate charade but it made sense from the moment she realised her love for Casey. It wasn't a charade, it was the truth once you found the right person.  
Who would have thought that the woman lying in her blood on the cold floor of some anonymous courthouse would be the person she wasn't looking for, as forcefully independent as she was?  
Noone, noone would have bet a cent on it.

And yet, almost two years later they were happily married, parents of two healthy kids.

Well they would soon be three, but she kept that information a secret to Casey, she wanted to make it a surprise for their birthday. The day they admitted their feelings. Of course, she could wait for their 'official' birthday: the day they first dated, but it was a month later and frankly, she knew she couldn't hold her tongue that long. She wanted to celebrate the life growing inside her with her wife. And the practical side of her feared that morning sickness, if they appeared, wouldn't be the right way to announce the news to her wife.  
So tomorrow would be the day, and she felt nervous, in a delicious way.

As nervous as she was when she asked Casey if she would marry her.

It was on Thanksgiving day last year, on that sunny carribean beach.  
They were sitting around a nice dressed table, pretty much like on their first evening. But this time the table was on the beach, they were alone, only the wind and sun.  
Or so Casey thought. All her family had made the trip to the Resort and were hiding in a separate but close area, waiting for Olivia's signal. Well Maddie was in charge of it since they didn't want to ruin the surprise, they thought that a little girl wearing straw hat and sunglasses was easier to place in the picture than a group of fifteen.  
As she kneled in front of Casey, prompted the question with Casey's grandma ring, they all came out of their hiding place to gather closer.  
And as Casey said yes, they all gathered around them, letting their joy shown, Olivia would never forget the look on Casey's face: happiness, incredulousity, disbelief, even a hint of fear. God she was beautiful. She felt gooseflesh at the mere memory of it.

It hit her much later that she would have looked kind of stupid if Casey didn't say yet. But strangely, she just knew it wouldn't happen. In fact, from the moment she decided that spending her life married to Casey was what was meant to be, and she got her father's blessing, doubt never crossed her mind.

It was a memory she cherished and thanks to Maddie, who would always think of a camcorder no matter where they went, they had all their important 'moments' on dvd: her proposal, their wedding, the moment they announced Casey's pregnancy, the birth of the twins… everything was available.  
That little girl was really something… she would do anything for her aunt Casey, their bond only grew stronger in the past year. It was a surprise to noone when she declared one day that she wanted to be an ADA when grown up. Not a DA, but "an ADA, like auntie-casie" were her exact words. That brought tears in her aunt's beautiful eyes. The same aunt who would never have met that amazing little girl if she hadn't pushed her to face her sickness.

It might look like she did everything but Casey did her share as well in bringing them this happiness.  
Last year she did something that should have costed her her job: she ran Olivia's DNA in the national and federal databases. When it returned a match, she had Captain Cragen investigate the matter before saying her anything. If Simon was in any serious trouble, then she didn't want to know and she surely didn't want Olivia to find out about him.  
She vowed to protect her from any harm.  
Turned out that Simon indeed had a record but as a witness in a rape trial and all the investigations ran by Don Cragen didn't bring anything wrong about the guy. He was clean, happy in a relationship with a woman he was about to marry, and he was a social worker for the city of New Jersey. He went as far as having Georges Huang meet him 'by accident'.  
Then when it was obvious Simon was totally clean, he gave Casey all the informations he gathered.

A day later, after dinner, she went to her with it. At first she was shocked, even angry, but then she remembered that not so long ago, she herself did dig into Casey's personal life.  
Now she knew how the other woman had felt. It wasn't an easy feeling, and above all, not easy to be the focus of so much attention and caring.

Their first meeting was ackward to say the last and she had to lay a lot on Casey as she went through pretty rough times. She held her countless sleepless nights.  
He was her half-brother, they shared the same blood, but he although was the son of the man who raped her mother. Or so she had always been told. In the end, she might never know the truth but they, Simon and herself, were the living proof that genetics didn't drive perverts, education and living did.

Simon was her witness at their wedding, Maddie was Casey's.

Their wedding …. held in the beautiful patio of Chez Michel, a French world-class restaurant in West Vancouver.  
The patio overlooked the Bay, and they were lucky to be able to rent the whole place. Usually Christmas festivities weren't the best time of the year to rent a place like this but Michel Segur, the restaurant's owner, lived up to his reputation and made everything in his power to grant them their wish.  
So they got married on Christmas Eve last year.  
Casey wore a breathtaking red silk dress, the bustier revealing enough cleavage to keep her attention all evening. Herself was dressed in a tight black dress, cut above the knees and backless. If Casey's roaming eyes were any indication, she chose it properly.

They already planed to celebrate their first anniversary back there. Casey's father offered to babysit the kids but they declined, wanting to have them on that occasion.  
Although she knew it might have hurt their friends' feelings, they decided to celebrate just the four of them. Not that they weren't greatful to have such a wonderful circle of family and friends, but it felt right to celebrate it that way.  
Besides, they had made plans to go all sky together once more this year. So they'd celebrate all together just a week later.  
And if they were to accept Mr Parsons' jobs, that would mean a lot of change in their lives, both personnaly and professionnaly, they could use time alone.

As the day closed to its end, Casey stired in her arms.

Looking down, she met green sleepy eyes but the dark bags under them had vanished. She was fully rested, thanks to the kids for not waking up, and leaving their mother get some much needed sleep.  
As on hint, she could hear them prattle through the talkie. They were up, surely hungry.

Bending, she brushed her lips over her wife's, whispering "I love you" before Casey rose and went to feed them.

Turning on her heels before crossing the picture window, Casey crouched her index in her direction with a soft smile.

"Life is perfect" she thought before she followed her wife inside, snaking an arm around her waist.

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Finally I posted it in one piece instead of two so you've got it all :)


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